September 4, 2010

Friday Photo: Parish Church & The Great Storm

parish church

Many thanks to Dorothy Curtis for not only sending in the above image of the old Hoylake Parish Church (demolished in the 1970′s and discussed in this post) but for also sending me copies of newspaper articles detailing the tragic loss of five Hoylake men in a storm in 1894.

The press articles are unfortunately too large for me to upload to the site. They detail an inquest in to the loss of the lives of five Hoylake fishermen:

  • John Eccles (Snr)
  • Joseph Sherlock
  • Joseph Rainford
  • Edwin Eccles
  • John Eccles (Jnr)

All men drowned at sea during what is described as The Great Storm of December 22nd, 1894. The bodies were found washed ashore at Southport. Sailing the fishing smacks (boats) called The Stag and The Ellen and Anne the men failed to reach land. I understand the men are buried in Hoylake Cemetery.

Artists In Our Midst 2010: First Call

Here’s the first call for Wirral artists to join in this years Artists In Our Midst. Micheline Robinson writes:

Open Studio Tour and Poetry readings – Call for Wirral Artists

In an attempt to enhance the sense of community, allowing neighbours to meet one another as viewers and creators, Hoylake visual artist Micheline Robinson announces a call for submission for its 2010 Open Studio’s tour. All practicing professional or serious amateur artists (potters and other creatives welcome) who have studios, or can exhibit in their homes (although this is not an absolute requirement) within the geographical boundaries of the Wirral are invited to join the event. The tour will take place early November and there will be a small fee of £35 to join (to cover brochures, hall rental, wine at preview night, etc.). The opening evening will be combined with poetry readings and poets in the area are also invited to participate. Please contact if you are interested in joining.

For artists: Please contact Micheline Robinson: micheline10@btinternet.com

For Poets: Please contact Judy Ugonna:
judy.ugonna@gmail.com

Midweek Money Savers: Free Money 7th July

freeVAT going up, spending cuts, job cuts, pension age rise, double dip recession looming …all pretty gloomy news I’m afraid!

So how about a few little freebies to raise a smile and a couple of quid :)

This weeks edition of Midweek Money Savers contains a few tips on how to raise some free money for yourself, for school funds or for a charity. I’ve done some of them myself and would welcome to hear a few of your own too.

Cash For Old CDs, DVDs and Games

Have you got old CDs, DVDs and video games just sat there gathering dust? Did you know that someone will buy them off you? Music Magpie will offer you cash for them and they’ll even pay for the postage. It’s a free service and once they’ve received and checked your old trade-ins they send you a cheque. Find out more.

Ebay Your Old Stuff

You’ve all probably heard of ebay and many of you will have used it. But think again about stuff that you don’t want but people might want to buy. I once sold a totally useless, broken camera for £37. My old laptop wouldn’t power up, so I sold it and got £40 (I removed the hard disk for security purposes). The other week we got some free newspaper tokens in the post …I sold them! Broken washing machines are popular for spares I’ve been told.

For bulky items just offer local pickup only so you don’t have to post anything. And if you’re unsure about postage costs, weigh your item and check rates at the Royal Mail site.

It’s always worth searching in ebay to see what other people are selling …you’d be surprised. Visit ebay here.

Recycle Old Mobile Phones

This is something I’ve got to do myself as we’ve got a couple of old mobiles lying about. Depending upon the make and model you can get over £150-£200 for old mobiles. Even if you only get a few pound for an old phone, it gets them recycled and you’ll get rid of them. You can also recycle old ipods, mp3 players and digital cameras.

Why not try sites such as Royal Mail’s SimplyDrop (phones, mp3′s, cameras) or Earth Mobile.

So that’s three suggestions for raising funds from unwanted items around the home. If I come across any more ideas I’ll let you know!

Friday Photo: Alleyway

alleyway

There are numerous alleyways in Hoylake and I reckon the one pictured is one of the longest. It’s the cobbled alleyway that runs between the houses on Meols Drive and Drummond Road. I took the photo back in January one Saturday afternoon;   I’d been walking the dog, admiring the attractive row of terraced houses in Airlie Road before seeing the entrance to the alleyway …so down we went!

Family Fun Day At Blue Anchor

The Wirral Egg Run will be holding a cheque presenting and family fun day at The Blue Anchor, Market Street Hoylake on Sunday 4th July from 1pm.

Flower Power Singer Songwriter Event

sunflowerOn Saturday 3rd July starting at 5pm til late  in Vanilla Lounge a laid back day/evening celebrating local songwriters, some of the finest artists from this area, to raise money for Friends of Hoylake and Meols in Bloom.

Line up includes Hoylake’s own Caroline England, Jimmy Rae, Al ‘The bluesman’ Peterson, Gerry McGowan, and from further afield but still from The Wirral Folk sensation Mark Roberts, up and coming female duo Sam and Nick, Acclaimed singer songwriter Phil Chisnall, and multi talented writer and performer Dean Johnson. Soulful singer Jason Johnson from Staley Bridge will also perform.

We have a BBQ and a fantastic raffle and we have a signed Daniel Craig picture plus many more great prizes. This is a child friendly event. Come dressed in Flower Power attire of you are brave enough.

Caroline says “I wanted to help the charity in some way and thought that it would really great if we could gather some talented songwriters together too and so the idea of the flower power event was formulated. The plants and flowers really make a difference to the village of Hoylake and in difficult times like these when our high streets are suffering due to the recession and the increase of large supermarkets we need to all pull together and do what we can to support independent shops.

Jan Foster, founder of the charity and her dedicated team of volunteers have worked tirelessly planting, watering, weeding and deplanting dying or broken flowers. Jan has been rewarded for all her efforts with an invitation to Her Majesty the Queen’s Royal Garden Party later this month. Jan says that she is overwhelmed by the support she is given by local people. Jan says “I am so excited about being invited to The Royal Garden Party and very much looking forward to Caroline’s music event at Vanilla too. People love the flowers, they stop me all the time and tell me how fantastic they are and what a difference they make to the area. There is a real feeling of community”

Saturday 3rd July starting at 5pm till late. Vanilla Lounge.

Midweek Money Savers 30th June

tillA few people have asked where the little posts about shopping offers have gone. I published them for a while on a Monday but stopped because I found it awkward to (typically) compile the information on a Sunday evening.

But, if at first you get fed up you can try something different! So I’ll publish a feature called Midweek Money Savers instead and we’ll see how we go :)

Argos

Blacks

Cath Kidston

Coopers of Stortford

Currys

Marks & Spencers

Thorntons

If you’re a local business and want to promote your offers, please get in touch and ask about advertising here on Hoylake Junction.

Raise Your Voice Summer School

crowdDo you love to sing, act or dance? Do you want to have fun this summer? Then if you’re aged 10-13 then you might be interested in the forthcoming Raise You Voice Summer School.

You’ll be able to take part in workshops including: improvisation, musical theatre, dance and choreography, stand-up comedy, accents, singing and much more!

Held at St Lukes Church, Market Street, Hoylake between 26th-30th July from 10am with a performance on the Friday afternoon.

For further details and booking information contact Jessica Broadbere on 07833 251089 or email jessicabroadbere [at] gmail.com

Big Bash 2010

big bashThe Big Bash is a summer holiday club organised by the churches of Hoylake and Meols for the children of Hoylake and Meols.

This year it will be running from the 16th to the 20th August with a special Family Funday on Saturday 21st.

The daily programme runs from 9.30 ’til 12.30pm at St Luke’s Methodist Church, Market Street, Hoylake. It is for all children in school years 1-6 and costs just £2 per day. There will be lots of activities including music, games, craft and an oppotunity to learn more about God. It’s set to be a really great week!

To book your place, pick up a flyer from any of the local churches, fill it in and push it under the front doors at St Luke’s Church ASAP. Limited places (first come, first served.)

For more information contact: Jenny on 0151 632 6793

News Roundup: 25th June 2010

Cumpsty Miller

A few items of Hoylake news for all starting off with an update to the Cumpsty & Miller photo that I published in May. I must thank Pat Ireland and George Shone – Mr Cumpsty’s grandson – for the above photo of the aforementioned shop. Mr Cumpsty is the chap in the plus-fours on the right.

Thanks for all the comments about the 3 Sisters greengrocers featured in Monday’s Mary Queen of Shops. As has been commented, locals should have spotted some of not quite right edits …for instance, Telegraph Road shops have always been in Heswall not Hoylake ;) . But it was great to see Hoylake on television and the place didn’t look too shabby did it? By the way, apologies if you had trouble viewing Hoylake Junction on Monday evening …the site received thousands of visitors and the computer server that the website is hosted on (all the way in California) couldn’t cope.

It seems that filming in Hoylake of the new comedy Candy Cabs has ended – at least for now. I gather it’s based on a true story of an all-woman taxi company in Warrington. They’ve also been filming some of the show in the Cheshire village of Lymm (see this blog post). I’m informed that the old show Watching, that was filmed in Meols, was coincidentally also filmed in Lymm. And to add another tenuous coincidence I used to work in Lymm, for someone whose uncle used to have a dental practice in Carlton Terrace.

Have a look at my (somewhat neglected, I must try harder!) Meols blog for a photos a house in Meols Park and for an informative post by Ian Powers about Meols sewage!

I’m sure I’ve forgotten a couple of things! Anyways, as always feel free to send in your in Hoylake news. Look out for a couple of events listings coming soon.